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Jack Russell celebrates 22nd birthday

A former stray who was once the runt of the litter has celebrated her 22nd birthday and is estimated to be 100 in dog years, thisisgloucestershire.co.uk reports.

Daisy, a Jack Russell, was taken in at the age of two by now-owner Mark Barsby-Finch from a rescue centre in 1993. Now, twenty years later, Daisy is still going strong.

Barsby-Finch, from Tewkesbury, put her long life down to long walks in the country and a diet of roast chicken with mashed potato.

The pampered pooch has never touched a can of dog food in her life, after refusing to eat such food when she was first taken in. Barsby-Finch said he now cooks extra portions for Daisy and wouldn’t dream of giving her scraps. Whilst chicken and mash is her favourite meal, Daisy is also said to be partial to a Chinese takeaway and even a chilli – provided it isn’t too spicy.

Experts have suggested that Daisy’s age would make her the equivalent of 100 in human years, having done away with the previous rule of equating seven dog years to each human one. This, they say, is because different dog breeds age at varying rates.

Daisy was once very active, roaming the fields Barsby-Finch used to live near. Now, in her old age, she relaxes a little more and spends longer resting in her dog bed.

Speaking of the day he first took on the Jack Russell, Barsby-Finch told dailymail.co.uk: “When we rescued Daisy, they told us she was the runt of the litter and wouldn’t have been expected to survive long. She was left to wander farmland as a stray before someone found her and took her to the shelter.

“When we first adopted her, we had access to 40 acres of farmland, and Daisy used to be off out into the fields first thing in the morning, and she’d suddenly reappear just in time for her tea. She has always hated going for walks on the lead, but give her a field to run around and she’s off.”